‘27 legal aid clinics established in UT’
SRINAGAR: The Union Ministry of Law and Justice has revealed that out of 66 high court judges appointed in year 2020 in India, five were appointed in Jammu and Kashmir besides that 27 Legal Aid Clinics were established in J&K which has benefitted nearly 6000 people.
As per news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Ministry of Law and Justice in its year-end review said that the Year 2020 has seen very significant initiatives by the Department of Justice of Union Ministry of Law and Justice. Apart from filling up vacancies in the High Courts, a number of steps were taken to expedite delivery of justice and court case resolutions, especially in view of the difficult situation caused by COVID-19 pandemic.
The department stood up to the challenge and ensured functioning of e-courts, virtual Lok Adalats as also providing a mechanism for dispute resolution at pre-litigation stage itself.
Sixty six fresh Judges were appointed in the High Courts which includes High Court of Bombay(4), Allahabad(4), Gujarat(7), Karnataka(10), Andhra Pradesh(7), Jammu and Kashmir(5), Kerala(6), Rajasthan(6), Punjab and Haryana(1), Manipur(1), Calcutta(1), Orissa(2), Tripura(1),Telangana(1) and Madras (10), the report adds.
Jammu and Kashmir State Legal Services Authority (JKSLSA) has established 27 Legal Aid Clinics during the year. The Para Legal Volunteers engaged in these LACs organised series of Legal Awareness Programs benefitting nearly 6000 people, report further adds.
The e-Court Integrated Mission Mode Project was launched with the objective of improving access to justice using technology. Under this project, 16,845 courts, across the country, have been computerised, so far with software compatibility and interoperability, it said.
Under the Wide Area Network (WAN) Project under eCourts project is aimed at connecting all District and Subordinate court complexes, spread across the country using various technologies like OFC, RF, VSAT. So far, 2931 sites (98%) have been commissioned out of 2992 sites with 10 Mbps to 100 Mbps bandwidth speed, it further adds.
Under National Judicial data grid, every single case has been provided a Unique Identification code which is called CNR number and QR Code. This has led to the development of National Judicial Data Grid (NJDG) as a new communication pipeline for judicial data transmission, it further adds.
Since, Covid lockdown started, the District courts heard 35,93,831 cases while the High Court heard 13,74,048 cases (totalling to around 50 lakh) using video conferencing only. The Supreme Court had nearly 30,000 hearings during the lockdown period, it said besides adding that E filling, E payments and E court services were also introduced besides other things.